For the second time this NHL season, the young Swedish star was the target of an opposing player, miles away from the play.

As the puck moved up ice just under six minutes into the second period, Canadiens rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi pulled Pettersson back. The Canucks’ super rookie ended up twisting his leg underneath himself.

Video replays reveal plenty of pressure was placed on his right knee, or perhaps right ankle.

Pettersson gets his leg tangled up with Kotkaniemi and goes down in pain. He would stay down for awhile before heading to the dressing room. #Canuckspic.twitter.com/jdJhjiOBze

Pettersson stayed down on the ice for several minutes while Canucks medical trainer Jon Sanderson tended to him. The crowd remained hushed.

Pettersson eventually got to his feet to a round of applause and skated off the ice. He did not return, the team reporting it simply as a “lower-body injury.”

After the game, Canucks coach Travis Green said Pettersson would be re-evaluated on Friday. The young player was spotted walking around under his own power, without crutches or noticeable limp.

For his part, Kotkaniemi told reporters he wasn’t sure what happened on the play.

“We both fell down. Maybe I fell on his leg,” the Canadien said, adding he didn’t intend to hurt Pettersson.

Before the injury, the Canadiens had taken early control of the game. The Canucks, playing their second game in as many nights, had just one shot on target at even strength in the first period.

But they only trailed by one after the first and Pettersson even had a spectacular chance to score on a breakaway.

Jordie Benn opened scoring for Montreal at 11:50 of the first, taking a point shot that eluded Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom.

Habs winger Jonathan Drouin scored on a rush at 8:24 of the second period and while the Canucks had a number of opportunities to draw themselves back in, they couldn’t beat Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who made 32 saves.

The Canucks head to Toronto, hoping the injury to Pettersson isn’t serious and that he’ll return to action soon.

Giving it a shot

With the loss of Pettersson, the weight fell on Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. The trio, reunited as a line, had plenty of chances.

Boeser managed 14 shot attempts (six were turned away by Price). He rang a shot off the crossbar, the post and another off Price’s stick shaft.

Horvat had a glorious chance in the second period, but Price snared the shot from the slot.

Baertschi said his team played well despite the loss.

“I thought we did some good things tonight,” he said. “Carey played an outstanding game. (Boeser) tried everything. Another night, one or two of those shots go in.”

No pushback, again?

After the game, Green said while he initially wondered if the Pettersson hit was dirty, after watching the replay a number of times he concluded it wasn’t.

“Two guys get tangled. I’ve watched it a lot of times. It’s not a dirty play by their player at all. He gets hooked a little bit. Petey actually pushes back on him a bit in a reverse hit,” he said. “Two young guys fall to the ice. It’s not a penalty.”

Markstrom said he went to the referee and asked why there wasn’t a call, since the play happened right in front of him and he thought it deserved one.

“He said he only looked when they were already tangled up and falling to the ice,” Markstrom said. “You can’t be mad at them … Obviously you want a call like that but they’re (refs) human, too.”

“It’s more of a two-minute hooking or two-minute interference call,” he added. “I don’t think it was anything intentional. I don’t think we need to make a big deal out of this.”

Elias Pettersson had a few quality chances against Canadiens goalie Carey Price before going down with an injury in the second.Graham Hughes /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Erik Gudbranson didn’t see the play initially but after watching replays, believed it deserved a penalty.

“I don’t think it’s a very intelligent play,” he said. “I don’t think it’s really necessary to hook him like that and ride him that far.”

Still, he said, while there was some thought of going after Kotkaniemi, there wasn’t a place for pushing back on the Canadiens’ forward.

“You could, but usually that’ll end up as a seven-minute power play for the other team and that’s not what was needed at that time,” he said.

Whether Kotkaniemi meant to injure Pettersson doesn’t really matter; it was an act that was well away from the puck and fit every definition of interference. A power play doesn’t bring Pettersson back, but it would have been some consolation.

It was also surprising the referees didn’t make the call, given they whistled six penalties combined in the third period after calling just two total in the first two frames.

The other consolation might have been some kind of pushback from Pettersson’s teammates.

But we’ve already heard the Canucks say that’s not how the game is played anymore, that eye-for-an-eye “justice” doesn’t work. One can’t help but think a simple shove, or a face wash, might have been OK as a “leave our boy alone” message.

In Florida, after Pettersson was injured, the Canucks cited that no one saw the play happen in real time and that by the time they caught the replay, they were working to win the game and couldn’t afford a penalty.

This is a different situation. Pettersson was injured early in the second period. The incident was replayed multiple times on the big screen.

A fight in response wasn’t needed. But for the sake of the fans, something, anything, might have helped the rage that was brewing after yet another away-from-the-play injury to Pettersson in questionable circumstances.

Vancouver Canucks’ Antoine Roussel moves in on Carey Price as Brett Kulak defends in the third period. Price would make 32 saves in the shutout on his return from injury.Graham Hughes /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Price of admission

The Habs’ star goalie made his return after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He didn’t look rusty — and no moment displayed that better than when he stoned Horvat with just under three minutes to play in the second period.

It’s not been a great season for the Anahim Lake, B.C., product, but he certainly looked his old self on this night.

But while the Canucks got a lot of good looks on the night, Baertschi believed they didn’t put enough traffic in front.

“Whenever you face a hot goaltender, you want to make it difficult for him,” he said. “I don’t think we did that enough.”

Weber to the rescue

Boeser leading a three-on-one would make you think a goal is coming. Those odds are what snipers dream of. Enter Shea Weber.

Somehow, some way, the Habs’ captain sprawled out and blocked Boeser’s shot off the left wing.

Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund were both on the rush as well, but Weber gave them no thought in the end, deciding the only hope on the play was to sprawl out. He made the right decision as Boeser’s shot attempt ended up deflecting to the corner.

Ooh, aah

Just like Wednesday in Ottawa, Thursday in Montreal was the first viewing of Pettersson.

And since Montreal fans know their superstars, the ooh-aah from the home partisans was notable more than once.

They sure did enjoy him for the 26-ish minutes he played on the night.

Before he was knocked out of the game he didn’t score, but he did have that first-period breakaway, and while he didn’t actually record a shot — a Jordie Benn stick-check (or was it a slash?) prevented that — he still took the puck to Price’s doorstep and tried a move that should have resulted in a goal.

Subsequent puck touches from Pettersson drew further gasps.

Pettersson appreciation is a growing thing, no longer limited to the west coast.

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